Apparatus for practicing strokes with a tennis racket



Jan. 25, 1966 w. E. MURPHY 3,231,271

APPARATUS FOR PRAC'I'IGING STROKES WITH A TENNIS RAGKET Filed June 28,1963 iu lmu lli g INVENTOR.

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United States Patent 3,231,271 APPARATUS FOR PRAQTICING STROKES WITH ATENNIS RACKET William E. Murphy, 1309 Iroquois Ava, Ann Arbor, Mich.Filed June 28, 1963, Ser. No. 291,550 1 Claim. (Cl. 273-29) The presentinvention relates to apparatus for practicing correct strokes with atennis racket.

It is an object of the present invention to provide apparatus of thischaracter which is constructed and arranged to teach the fundamentals ofa sound tennis stroke, and particularly to perform this function withrespect to both forehand and backhand ground strokes.

It is another object of the present invention to provide apparatus ofthe foregoing character which is readily adjustable to permit selectivepracticing of sound tennis strokes at different levels above apracticing surface.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide apparatusof the foregoing character which teaches the proper footwork to befollowed when executing the correct tennis strokes.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide apparatusof the foregoing character which indicates to the user when faultystrokes are being executed.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide apparatusof the foregoing character which is simple in construction to make itreadily usable for practice either indoors or outdoors, and which can bemanufactured and sold at a relatively low cost.

Other objects of this invention will appear in the following descriptionand appended claims, reference being bad to the accompanying drawingsforming a part of this specification wherein like reference charactersdesignate corresponding parts in the several views.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view illustrating one em bodiment of thepresent invention as it is intended to be used;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged side plan view of an unstrung tennis racketwhich constitutes one of the elements of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged side elevation of a ball simulating unitcomprising another element of the illustrated embodiment;

FIGURE 4 is an end elevation of the ball simulating unit of FIG. 3;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 55 of FIG. 3; and

FIGURE 6 is a plan view showing the ball simulating unit and supporttherefor and a foot mat comprising another element of the illustratedembodiment.

Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited in its application to thedetails of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of otherembodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also,it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employedherein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

Referring now to the drawings, a more detailed description of theembodiment of the invention will be provided. The apparatus forpracticing the correct strokes with a tennis racket comprises aplurality of separate elements which include the simulated ball andsupport structure 10, the unstrung tennis racket 12, the foot mat 14 andthe stroke limiting poles 16 and 18. The simulated ball and supportstructure is provided with a base portion 20 and a simulated tennis ballstructure 22. The base "ice portion 24) comprises two triangular piecesof rigid material 24 and 26, such pieces being formed from wood, metal,rigid plastic material, or other suitable material. The triangularpieces 24 and 26 are spaced apart to provide a gap 28, for a purpose tobe described, and these pieces are secured in this upright relationshipby two strips 36 and 32 which are secured together by suitable fasteningrivets or bolts 34 so as to retain the pieces 24 and 26 therebetween.

The simulated tennis ball structure 22 includes an upright panel 36which has an upper edge on which are positioned a plurality of simulatedtennis balls 38. As shown in the drawings five such simulated balls arepositioned along the upper edge of the panel 36. It is to be understoodthat the balls 36 may be regular tennis balls or similar ball-likeconfigurations, and all such balls and configurations will be referredto herein as simulated balls. These simulated balls 38 are secured tothe panel 36 or are made an integral part of panel 36 so as to preventdisplacement of the balls from the panel 36. The panel 36 with thesimulated balls 38 thereon is symmetrical with respect to its oppositesides and its one vertical edge comes substantially to a point as shownat 40 in FIGS. 4 and 5. A pair of supporting bars 42 are attached to thepanel 36, and the supporting bars 42 carry a wing nut assembly 44 forpassing through the slot 28 in the base portion 20 so as to enable thesimulated tennis ball structure 22 to be adjustably supported on thebase portion 29. As can readily be seen in FIG. 1, by loosening thewingnut assembly 44, the simulated tennis ball structure 22 can beraised and lowered vertically with respect to the base portion 20, andit also can be pivoted about the axis of the wing nut assembly 44 so asto vary the angle of inclination of the aligned simulated balls 38 withrespect to the practicing surface on which the ball and supportstructure 10 is supported. By virtue of this construction andarrangement, the aligned simulated tennis balls 38 can be positioned inproper angular inclination through the selected path of travel of atennis racket for a given properly executed tennis stroke.

The ball and support structure 10 is used with an especially designedtennis racket 12, which, as can be seen in FIG. 2, is an unstrung racketwhich has had a portion of its frame as removed to provide a gap oropening between the terminal ends 48 of the frame 46. Fitted over theends 48 of the frame 46 are pieces of tubing 50, formed of rubber orother resilient material, which provide a gap of desired dimensionbetween their adjacent ends. Normally, the gap between the adjacent endsof the rubber tubings 5th will be only slightly greater than the widestdimension of the panel 36 so that when stroking the racket through thesimulated balls 38, any faulty stroking will be noted by the one who ispracticing because the one end or the other of the tubing 50 will strikethe panel 36.

The handle or gripping area 52 of the tennis racket 1.2 is marked toindicate the correct positions of the fingers for both the forehand andbackhand strokes. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention suchindicia is not shown, but it will be understood that such markings maybe applied to the handle or gripping area of the racket, and a desirableprocedure for so marking the gripping portion is to provide, forexample, blue markings for showing the correct forehand grip, and redmarkings for the showing the correct backhand grip.

From the foregoing description of the ball and support structure 10 andthe unstrung tennis racket 12, it can be understood that the tennisracket 112 can be stroked through the series of aligned balls 38 withoutengaging the balls, and when the stroke is properly executed, the gapbetween the adjacent ends of the rubber tubing 50 will providesufficient clearance to allow the panel 36 to pass therebetween. If thestroke is not proper, this fault will register with the one who ispracticing, because the rubber tubing will stroke the panel 36.

It is also necessary when learning the fundamentals of a sound tennisstroke to execute proper footwork, and for this purpose a foot mat 14can be used. As shown in FIG. 6, the foot mat 14 has marked thereon thenormal footwork that will be followed when executing a tennis stroke. Asthere shown, the player moves his right foot in the direction of thearrow 52 and then moves his left foot in the direction 54 to thepositions shown, and he then executes the tennis stroke such as is shownby way of example in the sequence shown in FIG. 1. As there shown, theplayer is executing a forehand stroke, and the phantom lines 56 indicatethe position of the player at the beginning of the forehand stroke andthe phantom lines 58 show the player at the completion of the stroke,while the solid lines show the player at the midportion of the strokewhen the unstrung racket is traveling through the simulated tennis ballstructure 22. When practicing in this manner, it may also be desired tocontrol the length of the tennis stroke. For this purpose the poles 16can be positioned so that they limit the length of the stroke.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the apparatus has beenillustrated only in connection with executing a forehand stroke, but itis to be understood that it can be used equally Well for executing aproper backhand stroke. For executing backhand strokes, it is onlynecessary that the player reverse his position so that he stands on theopposite side of the ball and support structure 141, and the foot mat 14and the poles 16 and 18 would also then be moved to the opposite side,as will be readily understood. For this purpose, the foot mat 14 canhave similar markings, for example on the reverse side of the mat, toindicate the proper footwork to be used when executing a backhandstroke.

As was previously indicated, the strokes can be practiced at differentlevels, merely by vertically adjusting the simulated tennis ballstructure 22 by means of the wing nut assembly 44. Also, the angularalignment of the series of balls 38 can be varied with respect to thesupporting surfaces so that on low strokes the" player will be requiredto swing in a slightly upward direction, and similarly, on high strokes,he will be required to swing through the aligned balls on a slightlydownwardly path.

It will be observed that the described apparatus is simple inconstruction and can readily be manufactured at low cost. It is alsosuitable for use indoors and outdoors and requires no permanentattachment either to the playing surface or to any surroundingsupporting structure.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

Apparatus for practicing forehand and backhand strokes with a tennisracket, comprising a vertically arranged ball and support structureincluding a base portion adapted to be carried on a flap supportingsurface and a ball retention portion mounted on said base portion, saidball retention portion having symmetrical opposite sides and a pluralityof aligned simulated tennis balls on its upper edge in generallyparallel arrangement with said opposite sides, said ball retentionportion being vertically and pivotally mounted on said base portion topermit selective positioning of said aligned simulated tennis balls atdesired levels above said flat supporting surface and at desired anglesof inclination to said flat supporting surface.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,484,390 2/1924Gibbs et al. 273-187 2,305,187 12/1942 Neiden 273-29 3,125,343 3/1964Price et al 273-191 X 3,126,206 3/1964 Sabia 273-193 X DELBERT B. LOWE,Primary Examiner. RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Examiner. GERALD L. PRICE,Assistant Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No.3,231,271 January 25, 1966 William E. Murphy It is hereby certified thaterror appears in th ent requiring correction and that the said Letterscorrected below e above numbered pat- Patent should read as Column 4,line 18, for "1ap read flat Signed and sealed this 6th day of December1966.

( A Attestz ERNEST W. SW'IDER Attesting Officer Commissioner of PatentsEDWARD J. BRENNER

